Team Sunrise! These split chapters won't last forever, in case you're not a fan of them. But on the plus side, I try to get them done in groups of three so that we don't have to wait too long! I've been extremely invigorated for writing, and I've officially hit 100,000 views if you combine the views from FFN and A03!
So, in celebration, I'll be doing a thing. I'll put more details in the author note at the end of this one!
Giratina looked between the cowering shaymin, Palkia chewing on a fuming Dialga's tail, and a battered and bruised Team Sunrise.
"Explain."
Team Sunrise travelled along, deeply satisfied with a job well done. Palkia had been awoken. He seemed terrified of Sean, but that was more funny and sad than concerning, and Giratina would be happy to have some time to itself again.
Dialga was the only one who seemed less than pleased with the situation, but if what they understood was true. Having Dialga and Palkia have a nicer relationship than trying and often succeeding to murder each other would be very good.
Dialga had let slip that no beings in creation had died as often as they had. And almost every time was to the other. They had been fighting quite literally forever, so if these two could bond over mutual riolu contempt, then that was probably for the better.
Sean wasn't as sure about that, but he didn't voice this.
Lapras, charming as always, regaled them with tales about the port that had been built in Treasure Town and his interest in a lady lapras that came around often.
As the unofficial fifth…sixth…eighth…member of the team, he was immediately set upon with gentle teasing and unhelpful advice.
"Give her orbs. They love that."
"No, that's you."
"I suggest a picnic in a field."
"The blanket would sink into the water."
"Hm. Ice?"
"That'd be cold."
"Oooh, you should get her a little box wrapped in a bigger box and inside is a tiny little mirror that shows what you'd look like as a dewgong!"
"…Do you have something like that?"
"Drat."
Their advice was appreciated but best not taken.
"Where does Team Sunrise head next?" Lapras asked as they long-left the Sea of Time.
"To wherever the sun rises next," Striker said.
"That's hot," Saniya said.
"That's extraordinarily thoughtful." Sean nodded.
Guardian stared right through Striker. "That's cringe, Striker." He glanced at Sean, who immediately looked like he was about to pop like a balloon. "That's what the kids say, correct?"
Sean slowly covered his face as he shook with repressed laughter.
"I should buck you into the ocean for that," Lapras warned.
"In all seriousness, we're heading to Shaymin Village," Guardian explained. "Speaking to Giratina enlightened us on some matters, and as such, the shaymin could be the next part in easing the burden on Giratina."
Lapras nodded wisely, and they sailed on.
He didn't need to take them all the way back to town, just far enough to the continent that Saniya could use her powers to teleport them.
And teleport them she did.
Shaymin Village was a quiet place.
Where many towns held a certain level of tension to them with the hustle and bustle of trade and chatter, Shaymin Village was quiet and relaxed.
Historically, the shaymin were some of the most well-known legendary pokémon in the world. Having disregarded the idea of holding all their Power into one or a few bodies, the shaymin had split into many. No single shaymin was particularly stronger than any other pokémon, although they still possessed unique abilities to them.
Purifying areas, primarily.
Another unique facet of the village was its open nature. Many legends hid from the world, either to protect something or protect themselves now that they were not so unreachably stronger than other pokémon. While the village was secluded, it was not hidden or unwelcoming to outsiders. However, only shaymin themselves truly called this place home.
Sky Peak was the tallest mountain on the Grass Continent. It was no surprise that it had become a dungeon.
It had been an important landmark during Darkrai's rampage. The shaymin used their gracidea flowers to fly out to assist the continent. They may not have been much stronger than a normal pokémon, but a flock of shaymin descending to unleash a cataclysmic Seed Flare had saved dozens of towns by breaking the feral ranks.
And until they had been called to Treasure Town, Mawile and Ampharos had assisted in coordinating efforts to save as many as they could.
Sky Peak had received many pokémon taking a pilgrimage to thank the shaymin for their efforts. This gratitude was extremely appropriate, and the entire mountain was blooming with gracidea flowers.
Team Sunrise blew a hole in a flowery cliff when they arrived. Sean smacking into it, then Striker, before both were flattened by Guardian.
The sheer level of hijinks this was left Saniya rolling in the grass.
"Y-Yo-You should see the look on your faces!" Saniya laughed hysterically. "That was some play-level tomfoolery!"
"Saniya," Striker said stiffly. "Please learn how to teleport without throwing us with the force of Dialga's roars."
"I'll, pfft, try."
Placing Saniya under one arm and Sean under the other, Guardian carried them into Shaymin Village. Striker walked woozily, but he was far too awesome to be carried.
"Pie, pie, apple pie, our day is about to…end," Sean sung, very dizzy.
Their arrival hadn't drawn any attention, it had been far enough away that a distant thump hadn't been detected, and as they entered the village, Sean released himself from Guardian to walk with Striker.
Saniya enjoyed being carried.
"So, what's the plan here?" Striker asked as they passed the sign.
"Kidnapping?" Saniya asked.
"Vetoed," Sean replied immediately. "I think we just should explain what's going on and see who wants to come with us."
"Yes," Guardian said. "I like this plan."
"And when they don't want to go to the Reverse Distortion, then we kidnap?" Saniya asked.
"You cannot solve everything with kidnapping!" Guardian protested.
"No, you can't, as has been proven." Savage Saniya had awoken, it seemed. "Me and I, however, can solve everything with fire, sugar, and kidnapping."
"I'm glad we know you well enough to tell you're kidding," Sean said, as Saniya's extremely loud voice had drawn concerned looks.
"Who says I'm kidding?"
However, ignoring the words being spoken, they were recognised. A pair of pokémon approached them boldly.
"Hello!" Simisage said. "What brings Team Sunrise here?"
"Straight to the point, huh?" Darmanitan asked. "Well. Alright. Hello, Team Sunrise. We're Team Grassfire. It's nice to meet you!"
Sean extended a paw for a shake. "Shake," the canine said. After a moment of puzzlement, he got Darmanitan's very large, warm hand cupping his paw, and Simisage gave him a vine to rattle.
Human introductions passed; Guardian placed a hand on his chest and tilted his head. "Well met, Team Grassfire."
"Hi!" Saniya said, choosing to levitate again. "I'm Saniya!"
By this point in time, none of her partners even passed her a side-eyed glance for just speaking her name. It was what Saniya did. They couldn't fault her for loving everyone.
Still, Team Grassfire both flushed as soon as her words registered.
Striker just gave them a nod and ignored it.
They didn't ask for autographs, which was something nice, and Sean and Guardian chatted with them as Saniya flew up and looked around.
Her target? Shaymin one through seven.
Striker scoped the ground. As Saniya targeted the mountain, he simply walked into the core of the village and looked around the little grass huts. It didn't take him long to find a shaymin while Saniya was busy chasing a pepper she thought was seeking to drop something on the town from above.
"Halt, Shaymin," Striker barked at the little grassy hedgehog. It yipped in surprise and rolled into a ball before quivering, pausing, and peaking an eye out.
"H-Hi?"
"I have come to return you to the Reverse Distortion," Striker said.
The shaymin's eyes could not have gone any wider. "W-w-w. EEK!" And then it rolled off, almost ripping up grass with its urgency.
Striker stared after it in consternation. "Hm. That didn't go well."
"Strikeee?" Saniya called, descending from the heavens. "Are you scaring the populace before I can!?"
Striker did not mean to do it. But he decided to roll with it and smirked. "What? Too slow?"
Saniya gasped. "Oh, I'll show you! Where is my mask and axe?" She flew off.
She didn't fly off for just carnage and mayhem. Once she had a quiet spot, she floated down serenely. She closed her eyes, ignoring the feelings of body and physicality and dreamed of the mind.
"Chimecho?" Saniya called through the Psychic Network, floating around formlessly, a pinkish light beaming brightly in the sightless realm. "Chiiimechoooo?"
The Psychic Network had its place in the physical world too. If one knew their geography and didn't get too confused, they could manoeuvre their way to where the other's mind was.
It's what the training was for, after all. Most Psychic-types could access the Psychic Network, but not many could actually be of any use to anyone with it.
Saniya found Chimecho. Her light was dim, dimmer than usual. She must not be active. But a gentle or not-so-gentle prod alerted Chimecho that someone was trying to contact her, and it shone.
"Hello? Oh! Celebi. It's lovely to hear from you. Are you okay?"
"I'm really good at the moment, Chimes. We're going alright. I just needed to contact you to contact Team Ion for me."
"Indeed? Certainly. What can I pass on?"
Saniya hesitated. She wasn't sure what their plan was in the first place; she didn't think they knew. But, just for securities sake. "I…I've learned there may be a way to save Soothe. If they find her, please. Please. Tell them to bring her in and not…anything else."
Chimecho was silent.
"Chimecho?"
"D-did you…I…yes. I see. I understand…how? If I may ask."
"We got to see Giratina in person! I got to hug them! And they told us that Celebi had a skill to weaken the Shadow hold, and a human can dispel it. So, you know. Sean. We need to get more information from them. We're just at Shaymin Village to take one back with us."
"I see. I will pass that on once I find them. Celebi? I hope you know what you're doing."
"I do. Thanks, Chimecho."
She ended the connection. Then grabbed her axe; it was time to convince a shaymin.
By the time Sean and Guardian arrived to do damage control, the shaymin were hiding from them.
"Have you seen any shaymin around yet?" Sean curiously asked Striker. Striker gave a small cough, and Saniya hid her axe in a bush.
"No," Striker lied.
Sean tried to meet his eyes, but Striker had spotted something curious in the distance and was staring at it. "What…?"
"Striker," Sean said. "Look at me."
"No," Striker said, raising his arm. "What?"
"Look, you can't fool-"
"DUCK!" Striker was tackled into Sean, and they were launched against Guardian as Saniya suddenly collided against Striker's back with the force of a cannon.
Team Sunrise were reintroduced to the cliff by Saniya.
"SUNRISE!"
A giant dinosaur-looking dragon descending upon the town at full speed like an enraged god was cause for panic. When the first word it bellowed was sunrise, everyone began to calm down.
Dialga landed on the ground, shaking the entire village. Palkia, who had been hanging onto his tail, flopped and rolled into the dirt where Dialga believed he belonged.
"Dialga?" Saniya gasped.
"Do not DIALGA ME!" Dialga roared.
"…but that's who you are."
"Did you THINK YOU COULD ESCAPE ME?" Dialga roared, ignoring that. "Laughable. I can track your teleportation, A Lost Second. You have led me straight to you!"
"Oi!" Saniya snapped, rising up to bop him on the nose. "Don't go yelling my real name; your voice carries for kilometres."
Dialga growled.
"Now she's conscious of that?" Guardian muttered.
"Why did you follow us?" Sean groaned, being peeled from between Striker and Guardian.
"THIS!" Dialga stomped around and jutted a hoofed foot at Palkia, poking at flowers. "You think you can just DUMP THIS THING on me and leave?"
"Dump?" Palkia asked, hurt. "Thing? Leave?" Then he spotted Sean. "AH!"
Palkia placed his head into one of the shrug houses to hide from Sean.
"Oh." His voice was loud, and his tail thumped the ground happily. "Hello, Shaymin."
The whimpers of the shaymin could not be heard over his voice.
Sean looked around desperately for anyone willing to help. But the local tourists had vacated to a safe distance to watch the new gossip evolve.
He sighed. "What…are we supposed to do about Palkia?" he asked, Palkia shrieked again, blowing the shaymin out of their house.
"Take it," Dialga growled.
"He's gigantic!" Sean protested. "And, you know, wouldn't it be better if you two got along so you'd stop killing each other all the time?"
It was a sight indeed to see a tiny little riolu try and appeal to the god of time by pointing out that very god got killed by the god of space on the regular. Giratina had alluded to that well enough.
Sean was bold; no one could deny that.
His words of reason, not mocking in the least, still did not work to calm the angry dragon who had left his realm to yell at them on a flower field.
"Take him!"
"No."
"You dare defy me?"
"Dialga," Saniya sighed, flying up and perching on his head. "You're hardly the boss of us."
"I'm your boss."
"No one is my boss. I held up time while your previous selves were tearing each other apart. God of time, who, bitch?"
Dialga was honestly a little speechless at how…casual they were to him, even after all this time.
"I don't understand." His memories spoke of distant worship, awe, respect. This was not any of that. It was…more personal. No one was personal with Dialga. There was little to be personal with.
"I'm not going with them anyway," Palkia chimed in helpfully, scoffing. "The riolu would kill me in my sleep."
"Then DON'T sleep!" Dialga retorted.
"No sleep?" Palkia gasped. "But I'm tiiirrrred." He walked over and draped himself over Dialga, putting enough weight on his side that Dialga fell over with a cry of protest. "Nap."
"Get. Off. Me."
"Snore."
"You are not asleep yet!"
"Snore."
"PALKIA!"
"Snore."
"Get. Him. Off. Me. Or. I. Will. Do. Something."
"Snore."
Dialga used Roar of Time.
And chaos reigned.
"So, that's the story," Sean finished to Giratina's satisfaction. "Dialga roared, Palkia freaked out, turned into a bubble. That shaymin got caught in it. Saniya hit Dialga with a boulder as Guardian restrained his mouth with shadows, Striker got us close and then Palkia yanked us all as Saniya tried to teleport."
"Remarkable that you got all three of them here without cataclysmic damage to both worlds. Bravo."
"Yeaaaahhh," Saniya said, nodding rapidly. "It was entirely skill."
"Indeed," Giratina rumbled. It turned its gaze towards the three that had newly entered the domain of the Reverse Distortion.
Shaymin shrunk, looking like they could be literally anywhere else and would be happy.
Dialga met Giratina's eyes for a moment but couldn't hold the ancient gaze for long.
Palkia laid on Dialga's back, poking at the fan-like protrusion at the end of his back.
"The unown were still pissed at us," Saniya added. "That wasn't fun."
"As am I," Dialga said. "Why is my anger less intimidating than a group of floating letters?"
"You know as well as I do that they are hardly just letters," Giratina scolded. "Enough of them could inflict serious damage."
"And I can't?"
"You won't," Giratina said with a word of finality. Dialga opened his mouth to protest, then looked at Giratina and rethought it. "You are no fool, Dialga. But your actions today have been very unbefitting of who you are."
"You are," Dialga said, astonished before growling, "trying to lecture me?"
"Yes," Giratina replied calmly. "Your behaviour today was childlike. I understand there are…extraneous events that have left you in a juvenile form, but I believe your mentality could override your body. Am I wrong?"
Dialga couldn't refute that because that would be admitting defeat. And accepting it was also defeat. He chose to remain silent, pouting.
Giratina shook its head and shifted its gaze to Palkia. "Palkia, are you well?"
"Dialga is hard and uncomfortable to sit on," Palkia chirped.
"Why don't you get off?" Dialga growled.
"Why do you remain on Dialga?" Giratina asked.
"Because he will protect me from Riolu!"
"You believe Sean will harm you?"
"He could! My last self got killed by a lucario." Palkia shivered. "I don't want to die as well. I only just started existing!"
"I'm not going to hurt you," Sean protested. "I'm the most harmless person here!"
Shaymin sniffled.
"Second most harmless."
"I trust nothing about a furry!" Palkia declared.
Everyone. Literally, everyone besides Sean snorted.
"I feel like that joke has run its course," Sean said flatly. "And what are you laughing at?" he asked the shaymin. "AND how do you even know anything about that?" he asked Palkia.
"Eep," Shaymin and Palkia said together. Shaymin bolted out from a rock to hide on Palkia, detecting a kindred spirit.
Judgemental looks turned to Sean for scaring them.
"…What?"
"Regardless, you are safe here," Giratina said. "I will protect you if I must."
"From me?" Sean spluttered. He was ignored.
Palkia poked his head up, sparkles in his eyes. "You said Giratina was scary. They're really nice!" He poked Dialga in the face several times until Dialga tried to bite him.
"I said Giratina was an ancient being of incomprehensible intelligence, motivation, power, and understanding that you would do well to tread carefully around lest you find yourself dragged into a realm where you are helpless."
"That's a lot of words to say what I just said."
"My motivation is to keep the worlds balanced," Giratina interjected politely. "And I am not wary about discipline since Arceus can't and/or won't do it Itself."
Dialga gave it a very strange look. "…I'm not going to ask what I just thought."
"Probably for the best," Giratina replied, nodding. "I will put you over my knee if I have to."
Dialga's eye twitched. Palkia chewed on one of the metallic braces circling his head.
Giratina, satisfied with this so far, turned to the third of the godly party they had formed. It was a strange time when the number of different legendary pokémon outnumbered those who weren't.
Yet Palkia feared Sean, and Striker and Guardian were confident they could take Dialga if it came to it. Giratina was a vastly different story, best to be ignored.
"Shaymin," Giratina said, its voice taking upon something firmer, an old grievance leaking through the voice that had spoken throughout all of time. "Look at me."
Shaymin, buried under Palkia, did not emerge.
"Shaymin," Giratina repeated. "Do not make me repeat myself again."
A soft huff was as loud as glass breaking in Giratina's world as Shaymin poked their nose out of the gap and looked at Giratina. Dialga couldn't hold Giratina's eye for long without looking away. Shaymin stared at the beast of the reversed distorted realm without even a flicker of budging.
"Are you going to make me work?" Shaymin asked, voice high and reedy.
"Yes," Giratina answered. "You and you all have left me with a great deal of clean-up, and I have not cleaned it all."
Shaymin moaned. "Aww. How many breaks do I get?"
"That is conditional upon your quality, speed, and behaviour of work."
"Are you saying I cannot complain?"
"The last time you did, you split into a hundred and formed a union. The Reverse Distortion has never recovered from this betrayal."
"That's a little dramatic," Shaymin said.
Giratina's eyes narrowed.
"Okay! Shutting up now!"
It relaxed. "Thank you, Team Sunrise. For awakening Palkia, avoiding yet another war of time and space, and retrieving them along with a shaymin. Your work is exceptional; I see why I trusted you with the plan to save time."
They weren't too sure if they deserved the praise here, but Saniya soaked it in like a sponge out of water being rained on.
"Now, you have helped me. Thus, it is only fair that I return the favour."
"You can take us to the Water Continent!" Saniya cheered.
"Yes." Giratina turned to Shaymin, who shrunk. "But also, I can explain what was missed from before. Specifically, regarding Sean and Shadow Pokémon."
Team Sunrise nodded and settled in a group. Guardian serving as a backrest for Striker to lean on, Sean in Striker's lap, and Saniya's sitting on Striker's head.
"You said something would happen to me?" Sean asked.
"I said what may happen," Giratina corrected. "For you are a very unique case. A human that became a pokémon. I understand there are others before you, but still. This is extraordinarily uncommon and brings great potential and grave concern."
Sean sat quietly for a moment. "Keira, the Legendary Lucario, told us a lot about her theories on Shadow Pokémon and what causes them. She also noticed I was getting really…short-tempered."
"He was." Saniya nodded. "It was really worrying us. He'd go from chill to angry to teary in seconds."
Giratina listened quietly. Bubbles of reality floated around them.
"And this happened to the other humans who got turned into pokémon to save the world. She showed me a way to deal with it, battling to exhaustion in a dungeon. That…it actually worked. So, every month we do that. I'm sore afterwards, but my body heals really fast!"
Pokémon were truly durable creatures.
"Pokémon were not meant to become shadows," Giratina said. "It works truly like an infection, one that has mutated to best infect the body of pokémon. When it corrupts, it attacks the brain and dampens your ability to feel empathy and compassion, just to start with. Unstable emotions are common."
"So…I was becoming?"
Giratina considered him. "I would say, probably. You are still human in a sense; whatever humanity did to draw the Shadow into themselves is deeper than mere biology. You passively absorb the whispers and fragments that loom around the world, slowly but surely. Eventually…it would make sense that you could absorb so much that you'd begin to be attacked from within."
"Keira was right…," Sean whispered.
"However," Giratina added. "Being attacked is not quite enough. Shadow Pokémon slay other pokémon to turn them. They are forced to change. They do not have the ability to fight back as they die. Some still do, retain their memories as they regenerate. These ones are tragic. Theoretically, they could do similar to you, a battle to exhaustion in a dungeon, to sap that need to kill, but…it's just a stall in the end."
Saniya bowed her head slightly.
Sitting in Striker's lap, Sean began to feel something. In two ways. He normally kept his aura sense 'off' as far as that went, but powerful surges of emotion could slip through. He felt. Striker trembled just slightly against him, and Sean felt what he did. Concern. Worry. Fear. Apprehension. No, he wouldn't destroy himself to save someone. Would he? Of course he would. He's too heroic to leave someone like that. Please, Sean...I don't know what I'd do without you.
Sean quietly took Striker's hand in his paw and gave it a squeeze.
"Do you understand what a Mystery Dungeon is?" Giratina asked.
"…We've got some pretty clear ideas," Guardian said. "From what you, and others, have said."
"Then let me be frank. When the Legendary Pokémon offered their Power to stabilise the world in humanities death, reality was empowered. The world itself fought back. Mystery Dungeons are formed when collections of The Shadow grow condensed and become a danger of causing a rift. Thus, the dungeon serves as an infection response, containing the essence within a forever-changing labyrinth, burying It so far within that It can never escape."
Four mouths dropped open.
"That's what they are?" Guardian positively squeaked, his mind overflowing with knowledge he could never have hoped to learn.
Giratina nodded.
"Then why are so…what about ferals and the items inside?" Saniya asked.
"It does not go without a fight," Giratina replied. "In order to safely contain the essence, a large area is consumed. Unfortunately, those within it are trapped with that essence. Feral pokémon are not Shadow Pokémon, but they are in a way the first stage of becoming one."
The mouths remained dropped.
"As for the treasures within, well. I think that speaks for itself. What is contained within the dungeons seeks to spread, and what better way to draw others in to leave? Being slain in a dungeon, as with being killed by a true Shadow Pokémon, creates the risk of becoming one yourself. And they are not as bound to the dungeon; thus, they can leave. Carrying a small piece of It outside.
Team Sunrise didn't really know what to say. This was knowledge beyond anything that they had truly expected to learn.
"I believe it is pertinent to return to the matter of Sean," Giratina said. "Humans in the ancient times were able to purify Shadow Pokémon by taking it out of them. Either over a long period of passive absorption or a brutal ripping of the abomination free. They could free the pokémon, leaving them purified and forever out of reach. A purified pokémon cannot become a Shadow again. And humans, being suited to containing the essence, were able to continue normally once the surge had been once again splintered across the many."
"But there's only me, Dimitri, and Jessica," Sean said.
"Correct. And, furthermore, you have bodies of pokémon. You could purify a Shadow Pokémon; however, you would become one yourself without question."
"What…what if I did it in a dungeon?"
"Same result, just less overwhelming," Giratina said. "There is…no amount of willpower that exists that could hold It from taking you. You cannot simply fight and win. You can struggle, but you will lose. Once It has you, It does not let go. However…."
It turned to Saniya. "Celebi can weaken the hold, dispel much of the corruption. If done within a dungeon, the dungeon would absorb the dispelling rather than a human as in the older times. She cannot purify, but she could reduce the hold greatly."
"But…you said it didn't matter about willpower?"
"Correct. However, there are different…let's say concentrations of Shadow corruption. They all have the same result in the end, but the level does have some effect. The strength of regeneration the blighted in question possess, the extent of their corrupted moveset, how much they can fight It. And such."
"What do you imply here, Giratina?" Striker asked, eyes narrowed on the dragon.
"It is not something I would advise doing if there are any other options. However…if you combined a celebi's purification, a dungeon, and then a human to rip the rest of it out. The underlying blight that remains clung onto may be too weak to fully take Sean. As I said before, you passively absorb fragments of It already."
It gave them a firm look. "This would be substantially more than you've faced before. However, if you were then to be 'brutally beaten' within this dungeon beforehand, the dungeon may be able to bleed the rest of it out of you. I repeat, I would not try this if you possess another option; however…knowing what has happened, what Scout knows, and what we don't know. I fear. Thus, I tell you this. A trump card that should never be needed but is held just in case."
"…Soothe," Saniya whispered, tearing up.
Giratina's expression turned, one may dare to say, sad as it looked at Saniya. "It was easier to purify a pokémon who wanted to be purified," it added gently. "For they would fight when the time came. And The Shadow twists that into despondence and misery."
"I thought you said you couldn't fight," Sean said, almost trying to joke.
Giratina blinked and then gave him an amused look that faded. "When It takes you, no amount of fighting is enough. But…you can, and should, fight if it is trying. And for those blighted, if they can be roused to believe they can be saved…I don't wish to give false hope. Once more, I must stress that you should use this only in a truly desperate situation, for I don't know if it'll work; you may only get corrupted yourself, Sean."
That was sobering, and Sean glanced to his team. Striker had his mouth pinched and eyes trained firmly on a rock, Guardian's eye was dark but not flickering, Saniya was wiping her own warring with hope and realism.
He nodded. "Thank you, Giratina. You've told us…a lot."
Giratina nodded. "My thanks to you as well for bringing these here." It nodded to Dialga, Palkia, and Shaymin perched on Palkia's head. "I'll straighten them out."
"Are they going yet?" Shaymin asked.
"Yes," Giratina nodded, rising up. "We have shared what needed to be shared. With your aid, I shall open a portal to the Water Continent."
"Somewhere close to Serene Village if possible," Sean said.
Dialga scoffed. "They are so demanding."
"It is an honour to help," Giratina returned, not entirely directed at Dialga or Sean. "Now, you may rest upon my body as I take you to a feasible location."
"Woah," Sean said, amazed again as Saniya lifted the four of them up and onto Giratina's body. "This is the coolest thing ever!"
"Hold on," Giratina said, amused, as it curled its tail around Dialga as well, the others hanging onto him.
Then, reality shifted.
Compared to all other fast travels they had experienced, this was a seamless shift from one place to another. A gentle, controlled turn, as befitting the eternal master of the Reverse Distortion.
"Wow," Shaymin said. "This place is disgusting."
Here, there was a great deal more smog. A poisonous purple mist that would choke the life out of anything, even Giratina.
"I believe any one of them would be more than enough for you to rip a hole in reality," Giratina said, nudging Shaymin along.
It sighed and waddled up along a forming bridge of ice, unhalting even as it stepped into thin air. It knew Giratina would conjure a bridge or was just so confident in itself that it could walk on air without a gracidea.
"Shaaaayyyyyy," Shaymin cried as it walked into the smog. The only thing that could, for as it cried out, the smog began to sink in. The flower by its ear turned a violently poisonous violet.
"I would suggest we all retreat for a moment," Giratina said pleasantly. "The legends may have their overall Power reduced, but in our fields of experience, it's almost like nothing happened."
"I've got it!" Palkia said, throwing his hands up and space bent around them as Shaymin's cry suddenly raised to a crescendo.
"At least avert your eyes," Giratina suggested as Team Sunrise all turned around. Even with Palkia's shield, one that had contained even an enraged Arceus in another time and world, they felt the realm around them shake with the force of the Seed Flare.
Shaymin ripped a hole in reality.
"Eep," they yelled as it began to suck at them. "Catch me! Or…or not, I could just go and ah dammit!" Giratina, unaffected by the pull, snaked a tail and tugged them back from the obliterated path.
"Is that it?" Sean yelled over the sounds of wind pulling. There was a hole in space, bending light and gravity to fall into a gravity well that looked out over a sunny, grassy field.
"The Water Continent!" Giratina crowed, pleased. "Less watery than you were expecting, perhaps, but I thought it polite not to throw you into the sea."
"Because I can't have anything fun," Dialga, still salty, grumbled.
Team Sunrise all shared a nod and then moved forth.
"Thank you, Giratina!" Sean yelled.
"Master Dialga, I do apologise for all this," Guardian called.
"If you're able to keep an eye on us, maybe open another portal when we're done?" Striker asked.
"Love you, Giratina!" Saniya cried. "Raise my new siblings well!"
Dialga made a sound of intense disagreement. Palkia nibbled.
Shaymin complained something, and Giratina waved with the end of its tail.
"Ready?"
"Yes."
Team Sunrise jumped.
One may think that entering an entire separate dimension, so that one didn't have to wait to cross the ocean on a lapras was a little excessive.
But Saniya was on this team.
As was Striker "Watch Your Orbs" Grovyle.
And The Great Dusknoir.
And Sean.
Excessive was nothing to them.
To the Water Continent!
"Ah…well, well, well, that was quite the story!"
Giratina was a very good dragon, Team Sunrise decided. They would definitely not take advantage of this amount of help.
A portal within a lake had started exactly one pokémon. A clumsy ampharos who fell into the actual lake when the middle of it suddenly erupted with a pulse of energy and wind. Four pokémon were flung flying through it, and as Ampharos swam out of the lake, he deftly avoided being splattered with absolute skill and not at all extreme luck.
Fishing the four out gave them wet dog, BEN drowned, overwatered plant, and the lady of the lake.
"You have saved me," Saniya sang, hanging onto a most-unwilling Jirachi. "I dub thee deserving of a wish."
"…Are you trying to be funny?"
Saniya wiped the water out of her eyes and stared at her saviour. "Oh, ew, my replacement. Cease and desist on holding me."
Jirachi dropped her on the ground. Saniya might have hit the ground with a satisfying splat, but she wouldn't give him the pleasure. She rose up on her own power and stared Jirachi down as Mawile helped the rest of them.
This included the half-drowned sheared sheep of a leader she had.
"There are a lot of questions I want to ask right now," Mawile said as Striker coughed out a small fish. "And I'm not sure if the first should be where did you come from or how did you pokémon save the world?"
"Well," Guardian began.
"Saving the world you put at risk doesn't count."
Guardian shrank.
"Hey, back off," Sean managed after some extended coughing. He worried about the hair that was coughed up.
Mawile blinked. "Ah. You're right. I apologise."
With that, they sat down or floated angrily and explained where they had come from.
"Quite the story indeed," Jirachi yawned, bored to sleep already.
"That's our side of things," Sean said. "What's yours? What have you three been up to since everything?"
"What have we been up to?" Ampharos asked, rubbing his chin. "Well-well-well, where to begin? The sheer face of dark cliffs? The very hungry caterpie who could flyte with the best of them? Oh!"
"No," Mawile and Jirachi said.
"But they'd love it?"
"No."
"Please?"
"No."
Ampharos sighed. "Very well then. Let me at least set the stage for our travels thus far." He rose up from his seat and tried to toss his cape. He was not wearing it. And asked them to look away while he got dressed.
Jirachi levitated it up, Mawile tied the back as Ampharos' stubby flippers held no chance to tie anything.
"Aha!" Ampharos declared; Team Sunrise all turned around as Ampharos glowed within a dark cloud. He'd activated a night orb, shrouding himself in darkness for a brief few moments.
He crackled with electricity, the sound buzzing like an approaching thunderstorm. "It was a dark and stormy night," Ampharos began, affixing his voice down several levels to sound deeper and foreboding. "A world, trapped in darkness by the whims of a mad god."
"Um, actually," Jirachi sniffed. "Darkrai was corrupted, not insane."
"By the whims of a corrupted deity, the world was at risk."
"They were the ones who stopped this. Can you move on?" Mawile asked.
Ampharos sighed. The orb's effects were fading, and he was left perched with his arms up like he was trying to fly, his cape limp and feeble behind him.
He, like any good showman, recovered.
"And BAM!" Ampharos let loose a discharge that popped and crackled in the air, shattering an orb he tossed up from below his cape and nearly blinding everyone with the luminous flash. "Light returned, and Team Expedition was born!"
Ampharos posed dramatically as the wind picked up at the right time to billow his cape. However, he was facing the wrong direction, and the cape blew in his face.
Ampharos scrambled to pull it down. "Thus, we have united as a powerful trio," he said, spitting out fabric, "seeking to explore what has not been explored. Map out what has not been mapped. And understand what has been lost, forgotten, or has failed to be understood."
The sales pitch was going well until he lost it at the end.
"It's a work in progress," Mawile said calmly.
"I suggested we include that I'm on the team," Jirachi said. "But it was vetoed. Apparently, my vote is worth the same as theirs. Which is bollocks."
"I know your pain," Saniya said wisely. "The respect that I deserve and do not get."
"You say things like 'Apples and oranges' and 'It's water under the bridge'. You are invalid."
"I will make YOU invalid by breaking your legs!"
"Try me. I can float."
"Well, I can too, and I have stopped skipping leg day!" To prove it, Saniya landed on the ground and began strutting towards Jirachi.
"What? You think you can approach me?"
"I can't beat you up without getting closer."
"You can't." He zapped her with a bolt of something bright and flew up as Saniya cursed. "I can destroy you without lifting a finger."
While the legends glared at each other, the more reasonable pokémon worked out where they were.
Giratina had done as promised and was easily the most reliable legend they'd ever met. They were near Lush Forest, a dungeon that led right to Serene Village.
"Why are you here?" Sean asked curiously.
"Meowth said enough about what's coming," Mawile said. "Enough that it was agreed to come here and start getting ready."
"He's told us a bit more, all that he can remember. But if he remembers anymore, don't hesitate to make the trip."
"A bit of a trip, that is," Jirachi sniffed.
"But a welcome one!" Ampharos beamed. "There's not a wave or whirlpool that the lapras cannot navigate!"
"Yes, no quicksand to fall into."
"Ah, my dear Mawile, but what is a whirlpool?"
"Water."
"I mean…you know what I meant."
"You're not swimming in a whirlpool, Ampharos."
Travelling through the dungeon might save a couple of hours, but with seven of them, they'd need to split into two groups. There was no hurry, so the seven pokémon travelled around the dungeon. While they walked, Guardian took it upon himself to tell them what Giratina had revealed about dungeons.
There was no need to hide information. Truly, that lesson that Scout had learned was understood by everyone.
Jirachi did not happen to be very surprised. "I remember," he said. "The big ritual that we all did millennia ago. Not everyone was particularly happy about that, but everyone did it. It was necessary, although it did prove many of our concerns. That we'd be isolated even further from the world."
"How long were you in Star Cave for?" Mawile asked.
"It would take days to calculate that. In laymons term, a very long time."
"So, you're the same one from way back?" Saniya asked.
"I am. I know the Celebi you stole power from too."
"Don't you even dare. Where is he!?"
"Mystifying Forest," Jirachi answered easily.
"Finally, I." Saniya paused. "Huh?"
Everyone in Team Sunrise turned to glance at Jirachi for dropping that so casually.
He shrugged at them. "He used to move around a lot, but due to the whole Power sacrifice shindig, we all holed up in one or a few places. A couple of us, I hear, have gone out anyway. Probably got found, killed, and reborn and decided they didn't need to follow the agreement anyway. Celebi liked Mystifying Forest, probably since Luminous Spring is there."
Saniya was silent the rest of the trip. Giratina's words in her head. And you can only be taught by another Celebi.
Jirachi enjoyed the silence from the loud, pink one. He rested on Ampharos' shoulders and napped.
Serene Village was how the name suggested it would be. There was no Kangaskhan Café centred in the middle of the town. Rather the area was bare, green grass growing where it would one day be placed.
Entering from the Lush Forest entrance led them to the tree on the hill. The high point gave a lovely view of the whole village across the saltwater port.
A rickety bridge led to a small, broken down, little hut. It was the first thing their eyes fell on; even from a distance, the creepy little shack almost looked like it was breathing. The door to it banging open and closed in no detectable wind.
Further across the water was the coast, a small beach with many large stones being hacked at by a small brown pokémon; shards of stone were around them already. Across the beach led to a simple dock; no lapras was perched ready and able to transport.
Into the town was a tell-tale shop shaped like a hawlucha, three guesses as to who ran that place. Across the town square was a bustling store manned by two Kecleon with a trail leading sharply upwards into a nestled group of trees. Whatever was past those was too far to tell.
Satisfied with this being the place, the seven pokémon travelled downhill. Ampharos tripped over only once; however, he took Sean and Striker down with him.
If Jirachi and Saniya could have saved them, they didn't, and the trio rolled down the hill.
"I feel like you could have done something," Guardian said suspiciously.
"I absolutely could have." Jirachi nodded.
"But that was hilarious," Saniya added.
"You also could have snared them with your Shadow Sneak," Mawile pointed out.
"I blame this on everyone besides me," Striker grumbled as they detached themselves from each other. Sean would have replied, but his face had been mummified by Ampharos' cape as the dashing wanderer apologised over and over.
"Normally, Jirachi would have grabbed me," he explained, flustered. "Ahoy, Jirachi? May I ask what distracted you?"
"Comedy," Jirachi replied bluntly.
"Ah, well-well-well, beware your coffee next morning in that case. Comedy begets comedy."
"Bring it."
Ampharos returned Jirachi's smirk. "First person to make a friend wins!" And then he barrelled off into town.
"Hey, let me in on this!" Saniya cried, racing after him and knocking him into the river. "Hah! I'll befriend them first! Look out, Serene Village, Snaiya has arrived!"
"Did she call herself Snaiya again?" Guardian asked with not inconsiderable concern.
"Yes," Mawile said as Sean was wrapped up in the excitement and raced off Naruto style. "I think we may need to have a drink."
"Yes," Guardian said. Striker shot them both a look. "Join us, Grovyle?"
He nodded.
They had made it to Serene Village. Step…something was completed. The day was bright, and the path was right!
Wobbuffet wobbled anxiously, hurrying along the dark path.
Why, oh why did she decide to go out at this time?
But no. No. She had to be brave. She had to get to the Guild. This couldn't wait until tomorrow.
Wobbuffet jumped as something rustled, but it was just the breeze moving the bushes. She tried to calm her pounding heart and move faster.
Wobbuffet weren't built for hurrying.
She tripped over her feet; the tail sneered something. She pushed herself back up on wobbling arms and continued waddling as fast as she could.
Why was she so afraid?
Wynaut hadn't come home.
It had been a normal day of trading in items for tickets and laughing alongside Wynaut and Spinda. No one had won the jackpot today, but Team Glee had gotten close, and they were delighted with that.
They were great pokémon. Wobbuffet hoped they'd win next time; they'd love to party with Ludicolo and the Bellossom.
She hurried faster. The wind was picking up.
The days had been normal. The only strange thing was that big rock she'd found a couple days back. But that was up at the guild now.
Wynaut had stayed behind to help Spinda clean up the café. Wobbuffet chastised herself for going off on her own. She should have stayed to help rather than being lazy.
She hurried, tripped, and got back up. The wind was loud.
She'd already seen Spinda. Wynaut hadn't come back for hours, so maybe they were over at Spinda's house, but no. Spinda said that they'd walked together and split off only after Spinda's place had been reached. It wasn't that much further to the guild. Spinda had gone out into the woods to look for Wynaut, and Wobbuffet was running again.
What if he disappeared too?
Why, oh, why did she leave Wynaut?
Wobbuffet was almost to the town now. She could hear the sound of the sea and just make out part of the guild in the far distance. She was almost there! She was almost there! She was almost there!
Her tail shivered in fear.
The wind was so loud….
Hm.
So, this was a fun chapter, I hope! Giratina, easily the best exposition source in the story! What can they do?
Cell phone. Exposition mon. Raise children, Saniya and Creation Dragons, be a taxi service.
Truly an appropriate use for the oldest mind in creation.
Giratina: "Before time nearly crashed, I had no children and was alone. Now I have four and will never know peace again."
Shaymin disagrees with this adoption. As does Dialga. The disagreement is ignored :P
As for a certain 100,000 views celebration! I'm basically opening up for a 'request' thingy of sorts. Stuff you want to see, snippets, shorts, stuff like that in Warped Skies/AU's and such. For fairness sake, there won't be many restrictions on what you can ask! Although I still may not write anything and everything.
Just if you're interested in something. It could be a scene that happened but wasn't shown, an idea you want to see my take on, some focus on a character or scene that you want to see more of. Pretty much anything! Doesn't necessarily need to be 'canon' either! Have fun, I sure have. Thank you all so much.